Oman men win Beach Handball gold at 2025 Gulf Beach Games

After Manama 2010 (Bahrain) and Doha 2015 (Qatar), the third edition of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Beach Games took place in Muscat, Oman and it was Oman’s beach handball men who sealed gold, moving up from their silver spot gained last time out in 2015.

From 5 to 11 April, a total of 335 athletes from the six Gulf countries of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, and Bahrain took part in eight sporting disciplines, including beach soccer, beach handball, beach volleyball, athletics, sailing, open water swimming, air sports (paragliding), and equestrian (tent-pegging).

Beach handball took place at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bawshar across six days matchdays, with a rest day in the middle (8 April).

The tournament featured four teams – United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman (OMA), Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Bahrain (BRN) – playing each other twice in a round-robin tournament and the team finishing top of the table taking the title.

As expected, Oman, who have appeared in seven IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships, most recently at China 2024, where they finished 15th, dominated.

They won all six of their games 2-0, not dropping an entire set during the whole event and even wrapped up the title early, thanks to their fourth win, against UAE (18:10, 20:12), in as many games, meaning they sat on eight points, with the other teams unable to catch them.

Their nearest rivals, Bahrain, who were playing their first official game since 2016 and who have appeared four IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships – finished second, jointly tied with the impressive United Arab Emirates, who traded wins with Bahrain. Saudi Arabia lost all six of their games, but did take sets off of both Bahrain and the UAE.

“Our team is new,” said Bahrain assistant coach Jaafar Abbas to local media after their first official game for nine years, a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia, watched by Bahrain Olympic Committee Secretary General Faris Mustafa Al-Kooheji.

“30% are former players and 70% are new. Some of those returning have been away from the game for eight or nine years, but we always rely on the Bahraini player - he’s a fighter who doesn’t like to lose.” Abbas and the rest of the team will have hoped to make an impression with that opening day

For Nasser Salem Al Hammadi, Secretary General of the UAE Handball Federation, the bronze finish represented success and hope for the future.

“The Board of Directors of the UAE Handball Federation extends its sincere congratulations to the nation’s leadership, the National Olympic Movement, and the wider handball family in the UAE on winning the bronze medal in beach handball at the 3rd GCC Beach Games held in the Sultanate of Oman,” he said to local media.

“Despite a short preparation period and the pressures of a packed domestic competition calendar, the dedicated cooperation of our clubs played a pivotal role in achieving this result. We are deeply grateful for their support. This achievement would not have been possible without the effective management of the Federation’s national teams committee, and the determination shown by our players, technical staff, and management team. They have demonstrated that UAE handball deserves its place on the podium, and they have added a valuable medal to the nation’s tally at this prestigious regional event.”

Final Ranking

1 Oman
2 Bahrain
3 United Arab Emirates
4 Saudi Arabia

Results

UAE vs OMA 0-2
KSA vs BRN 1-2
UAE vs KSA 2-1
BRN vs OMA 0-2
BRN vs UAE 1-2
OMA vs KSA 2-0
UAE vs OMA 0-2
BRN vs KSA 2-0
KSA vs UAE 0-2
OMA vs BRN 2-0
UAE vs BRN 0-2
OMA vs KSA 2-0

Credit photo: Gulf Cooperation Council Beach Games